Mobile Office Setup

As a digital nomad it’s crucial to be able to work from anywhere and have a mobile office setup that caters to all your communication, productivity and security needs.

Everything We Use to Work Remotely

We reveal everything we use all and give you a detailed break down of our complete mobile office setup. Want to know what else is in our suitcase? Take a look at our Ultimate Packing List.

If you have any questions, please email us at info@freemadic.com or tweet us @FreemadicLife.

Productivity Essentials

  • MacBook Pro & MacBook Air » Beautifully designed, light, powerful and robust laptops.
  • iPhone 5 (unlocked) » More than a phone – a communication and productivity mini-computer in our pockets.
  • Western Digital ‘My Passport’ External Hard Drives » Crucial for backing-up all our content.
  • Romoss Power Bank » Great for recharging our iPhones and other USB devices when we’re on the move.
  • Physical Notepad & Pen » Back to basics for brainstorming, note taking, sketching and planning.
  • Timebar for Mac » A simple app to set a visual timer on your Mac.

    • MacBook Air & MacBook Pro

    Unlocked iPhone 5’s with Cases

    External Hard Drives & Powerbank

    Backpacks, Pouches & Sleeves

  • Thule Crossover & Dakine Backpacks » Backpacks with dedicated laptop sleeves and other useful compartments
  • InCase Neoprene Laptop Sleeves » To protect our laptops from scratches and bumps
  • Sony Carry Pouch » Multipurpose pouch to store hard drives and power bank
  • Small Tupperware » Perfect for storing spare camera batteries, USB flash drives, iPhone Sim Removal Pin and headphone splitter cable

    • Dakine & Thule Crossover Backpacks

    InCase Laptop Sleeves

    Small Tupperware

    Communication & Security Apps

  • VyperVPN » The VPN (virtual private network) app that we use to secure our Internet connection when connecting to public WiFi hotspots. Especially important when doing online banking and online purchases.
  • Twitter » Keeping up-to-date with the latest news as well as connecting with other users.
  • Skype » The well known VOIP app that let’s us make video calls to friends, family and clients anywhere in the world.
  • Skype Personal Online Number » For approximately US$6 per month you can register a local number with Skype in a selection of countries that lets you receive phone calls that can either ring through to your Skype account or can be forwarded to your current mobile number (no matter where you are in the world). And the best part is that if the caller is from the same area as your number, then they only pay local call rates.
  • iMessage » Apple’s messaging app that works across all Apple devices.
  • FaceTime » Pre-installed on the latest iOS devices and Macs, FaceTime is great for keeping in touch with friends and family. Unfortunately only works with other Apple devices. Lame!
  • WhatsApp » The hugely popular and free messaging app. It on most devices and is great for sending photos and short video clips.
  • Facebook Messenger » Facebook’s dedicated messaging app for iOS to keep in touch with those individuals that prefer the FB platform.
  • GroupMe » A separate group messaging app that also let’s you message individuals privately – similar to WhatsApp.

    • Productivity, Admin & Team Collaboration Software

  • 1Password (for Mac and Windows) » Save, manage and backup all your passwords, important information and document backups in one password management tool. Also available on iOS and Android.
  • HarvestApp » Great online web app for creating, managing and sending out quotes and invoices, as well as tracking time. Try their free account and if you use our special invitation link and end up upgrading to a paid account, then we both get $10 credit.
  • Workflowy » Capture, store, organise and share your ideas and tasks into lists that you can easily sort, expand, collapse and export. Available for iOS and Android. Workflowy has become a digital extension of our brains.
  • Trello » A web app to create visual to do lists, content schedules and calendars. It also help us to plan and manage our projects and content strategy as well as collaborate and stay on track – also available on iOS and Android.
  • Dropbox » Cloud storage to save, manage and easily share your documents with others.
  • World Time Buddy » A simple way to compare multiple time zones when scheduling events and meetings.

    • Photography & Video Production Hardware

    • GoPro Hero » Our favourite camera for filming in the water, in the air, on the sand or in the snow. This beauty  comes along on every adventure and captures every moment. It is also waterproof (special casing required), durable and shoots stills and video in full HD.
    • iPhone 5 » A great camera for stills, video and panoramic shots.
    • Rode smartLav+ Lavalier Mic for iPhone » This affordable compact mic clips on your jacket and records straight to your smart phone. It is definitely a game changer,  but make sure to get the “+”.
    • Joby Gorillapod Flexible Tripod » This small flexible tripod is perfect for mounting a camera on a tabletop, on a fence or a branch of a tree. Works great with GoPro (tripod mount required) and Canon Powershot. Won’t work with heavier SLR Cameras.
    • Manfrotto MKC3-H01 Compact Photo-Movie Kit Tripod » A quality, compact and lightweight tripod for photography and filming. A much needed addition to our filming setup.
    • Zoom H4N Handy Portable Digital Recorder » Great video is useless without awesome sound. We use the Zoom for screencast audio and video audio. This is essentially a recording studio in the palm of your hand.
    • GoPole » Get that extra reach to get the perfect shot. It is also light, extendable and waterproof.
    • GoPro Tripod Mount » Attach your GoPro to a tripod.
    • GoPro Wrist Leach » Fasten your GoPro to your wrist for safety.
    • GoPro Suction Cup Mount » Mount your GoPro to the car window, or any other suction-able surface.
    • GoPro Chest Mount » Get the shot from your chest while riding a scooter, diving or bungy jumping.
    • GoPro Head Mount » Get the shot from your head while canoeing, surfing or climbing.
    • WOH Smart Mount » Mount your smart phone on any tripod.

    Cameras: iPhone, Canon Powershot & GoPro

    Tripods & Mounts

    Rode SmartLav+ Mic for iPhone

    Photo & Video Editing Software

  • Screenflow (for Mac) » Powerful, easy-to-use screen recording and editing software for the Mac.
  • iMovie (on OSX) » Apple’s native video editing app for Mac that is simple to use and has powerful results.
  • Moldiv (for iOS & Android) » An easy and quick app that let’s you create photo collages to share online. We use this to create our digital postcards.
  • VLC Player » The trusty, must-have open source media player that plays a wide range of media file types.
  • Photoshop » Used for graphic design and photo editing.
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